Anime News Round-up, January 2011

Between that damn flu-truck running me over last month, the ensuing pill(ow)s abuse, and the various experimental treatments for which I've been volunteering this past week, it looks like I'm finally cured and once again in working condition... more or less. So, back to work!

This year's anime remake ThunderCats is slowly revealing itself: after the first design image surfaced last month, a new official artwork was revealed by writer Todd Casey - as can be seen below - and more details have also been shared via an MTV interview. The remake is in the works at Studio 4°C, and it will premiere on Cartoon Network in 2011.




The corporate manga Shima Kousaku is being made into a "somewhat unusual anime". Kenshi Hirokane has been authoring said manga since 1983, with a story that follows the rise of a Japanese executive from a mere section chief, to company president.


The gambling manga Kaiji will receive a 2nd anime series, this time following the "Chika Chinchiro" and "Pachinko Numa" stories from Nobuyuki Fukumoto's manga (whose first anime adaptation aired in 2007-2008). The new anime begins airing this April 5.


Studio Ghibli's latest anime film Karigurashi no Arrietty (Arrietty the Borrower) has had its North American theatrical release set for February 17... 2012.


A full-CG animation series called Train Hero was announced to begin airing from April 2012, in Japan, China and other countries. Think... Captain Planet meets Transformers, coming to the rescue in disasters involving high-speed trains around the world.


A TV anime series called Honto ni Atta! Reibai-Sensei is joining the April 2011 line-up. This anime adaptation is based on a 4-koma occult comedy manga by Hidekichi Matsumoto, about an exorcist teacher who enjoys speaking with the dead. "Kibayashi-sensei knows everything about the other world, but nothing about our own world."


And one of January's final anime-related news was Navarre Corporation's failure to attract an "adequate" offer for sale of its child company FUNimation - which they've been seeking since last May. If they still can't find a decent buyer for FUNi until the end of March 2011, Navarre anticipates halting the process and... well... *shrug*... we'll see what happens with FUNi after that.

Next up tomorrow, a news round-up with the anime novelties from so far this month. And meanwhile the local Trailers section is also catching up with some of the relevant clips that I had missed while "out cold".